The ‘Real’ Wizard Of Oz – Meet Steve Sims

No hidden fees or agenda. It’s so simple that people have a hard time believing it. Steve Sims is seemingly accomplishing the impossible. He’s doing something good. Really good. And not making any money off of it.

Steve is the provider of experiences. He makes the wildest of desires come true with his luxury concierge service, BLUEFISH. As their website says, they aren’t going to pick up your dry cleaning or walk your dog, but they will provide you with a once in a lifetime experience.

The unfortunate disillusion of charitable fundraising

Two years ago, with business booming at BLUEFISH, Steve realized that many of the life experiences he was crafting had a charitable element to them. When the request involved celebrities, the stars would often ask for a charitable donation in exchange for the experience. Whether it be a meet and greet after a concert or the chance to go on stage with them during the show, he was thrilled to comply and so were his clients.

Steve Sims With Richard Branson

This was also around the time that charity auction sites started popping up online. Steve decided to start one of his own. He registered the name BLUEcause and spent the next two years getting a certificate from the State’s Attorney to legally fundraise. After the background checks, the fingerprints, and a lot of money, he was approved.

He read the guidelines of what he was and wasn’t allowed to do as a newly formed cause marketing company and realized that according to the law, these groups are allowed to keep up to 51% of what they raise for themselves. That means that for every dollar you donate, potentially only half will reach the people you’re trying to help. This disgusted Steve and he nearly shut the whole thing down right there.

Maximize the good, zero profit

Instead, he did something simple. In June of this year, he launched BLUEcause on the principle that it will never make any money. Not a penny. They don’t even have a bank account to deposit money into if they wanted. Every dollar they raise goes directly to the charity they’re working with. According to Steve, “When you take the element of money out of the situation, it leads to so much more fun.”

Watch this video that explains the BLUEcause model. See anyone familiar?

BLUEcause and BLUEFISH synergistically feed off each other – they are both selling experiences. The difference is, through BLUEcause, all the money directly benefits the people who need help.

Steve says they don’t want anything material or anything signed to auction off. And with these rules in place, they’ve been able to offer the highest level of personalized experiences.

For example, Dancing with the Stars approached him about an auction to attend their season finale taping. But they needed to have the names within a 24 hour window. So instead of setting up the auction on their site as usual, the BLUEcause team sent out an email and asked people to reply with their bid. At the end of the day, the highest bid was going to the show.

The very first auction closed on BLUEcause in September. Since then they’ve raise over $250,000 for a variety of charitable causes.

Want to connect with Steve?

Steve will be attending the Archangel Academy on January 29 – 30 at the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. Have the opportunity to chat with Steve and 124 other highly-successful and big-hearted entrepreneurs who will share their wisdom and strategies to help you succeed.

Tickets are $4800 (by invitation or application only) and there are 25 full scholarship spots available. See if you qualify today by clicking on the link below.